Choosing Between Hearts & Minds
by NocturnusX
Summary: [Completed!] Tifa & Sephiroth have always been sworn enemies, what happends if they're forced to team up together for the sake of earth? Please Read, Enjoy & Review. !Warning!: Rated M for naughty things in chapter 7 and further.
1. Memories From The Past

**Title: **Choosing Between Hearts & Minds.

**Pairing:** Tifa / Sephiroth.

**Progress:** Completed!

**POV:** 90percent Tifa and Sephiroth. 10percent other FFVII characters.

**Rated M**: Mostly for the mature scenes in chapter 7 and further. I've marked the areas which are for the eyes of 17+ only. Just skip the parts if you're not old enough for it, you won't miss much of the main storyline.

**Summary: **This is a story partly based on the FFVII game but has some interesting twists in it. The story is set a few years after the defeat of Sephiroth and the group of warriors broke up and lost most of their contact with each other. The main focus lies on Tifa, who is forced by Shiva & Diablo to team up with her former enemy... Sephiroth.

Both aren't too happy with this, but can they learn to cooperate for the sake of earth?

**Note**: The first two chapters might seem long-winded but they're necessary for the more interesting parts of the story. Next to that; English isn't my first language. I try my best to write these stories in perfect English, but they're far from it.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of these characters, nor am I associated with the game, these characters are copyrighted to squaresoft and all the other companies associated with the creation of final fantasy VII.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Memories from the past.**

"Where is that stupid hammer" Tifa cursed to herself while examining the wooden shelf above her head.

"I'm absolutely sure I placed it there this morning. She got down on her knees to explore the cupboard beneath her bar. Tifa let out a small sigh while picking up the dusty tool.

"Hmm… how did it get there?" she wondered. She got up to her feet and her eyes fell on the dusty furniture shattered around what used to be her bar, not only hers, but also Avalanches' safe haven.

Avalanche, the thought of her former team made her eyes watery. She and her friends fought for a better life on earth, but the future didn't turn out the way she hoped.

During the battle against Shinra and soldier she lost many loved ones. It had been three years since the defeat of Sephiroth, and Tifa hadn't had much contact with her former friends ever since.

The roads of the team members had split and everyone had their own business to take care off.

Tifa turned to face a photograph located next to the entrance.

The picture was taken when her team necessarily had to spend the night at the Golden Saucer, it pictured her and her friends smiling; and enjoying the evening.

Even Cloud had a shy smiling curling around his small lips.

Tifa couldn't help herself noticing the girl on his right – which to her disappointment wasn't her – gently touching Cloud's wrist; Aeris the flower girl from the slums.

A soft snore escaped from her lips while thinking over the entire situation there. Once she had feelings for Cloud, maybe she even loved him, though she still hadn't worked that ou.

She did showed affection when it came to Cloud: those feelings stayed unanswered.

Tifa could remember the day Aeris died as if it were yesterday. The anger and grief on Clouds face… she'll never forget his facial expressions while gently handing Aeris over to the lifestream.

Would Cloud have reacted in the same way if it were she who died that day? Would he have grieved as much? Would it haunt him? Tifa knew she would never know the answer to those questions.

She took a glass out of the cupboard, filled it with water and drank it at once. "Well" she said to herself, "Aeris was special, she was nice, lovely, sweet and cute… almost a saint. She was everything I'm not; I'm a sinner, not a saint".

Aeris was everything Tifa would never be but Tifa couldn't care less, for she was over Cloud. Her feelings for him had vanished over the years. "Out of sight, out of mind" she sighed.

* * *

"Ah, so you finally managed to get rid of this shack" an old voice croaked.

Tifa looked up to see her neighbor staring at her. "Well hello mister Crane, nice evening to you" she replied, "You'll be getting new neighbors soon" she smiled as she showed him a board that read "Sold".

"An European family will move in next week, they're planning on starting a museum here".

"I hope you know what you're doing young thing" Mr. Crane said, "This old shack was the love of your life". Tifa's smile vanished and she stared at her Seventh Heaven.

"I know" she whispered with a soft voice "but it's time to start over. I've got lots of good memories here, but they're overshadowed by negatives".

"Do what you think is best sweety" Mr Cane croaked while scaring a street cat with his walking stick.

"Aargh stupid animals, secretly I was hoping some pet catcher would open up a little company in that shack of yours", "Seventh Pet-Heaven would've been a nice name". With those words mister Crane took off.

Mr. Crane's words helped Tifa to cheer up, even though she was a cat lover herself. With pain in her heart she attached the "sold" board to the "sale" one and attached it with a few nails

A dreamy tingling made her look up into the starry sky and she decided to sit down and take a few minutes to enjoy the moment just once more. From now on she'd be spending her nights alone in StormVale.


	2. A New Beginning

**Chapter 2: A new beginning. **

_"Cloud…Cloud…Cloud!!!", "Please don't… don't do it… don't act foolish, remember your promise, remember our memories together. You've got to stop him, save us, save the earth, please Cloud"._

Tifa woke up panting in sweat. It's been ages since she dreamed about Cloud… or Sephiroth. "Get yourself together Lockheart, it was only a dream". Not a dream… a bad nightmare. She tuned herself and stared into the alarm clock "7AM". "Time for shower and breakfast" she said. She leapt to her feet, put on her nightgown and made her way to the bathroom.

"I'm in need of some coffee", she stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around her head and covered her body in a soft, lime green negligee.

While heading for the kitchen she picked up the newspaper and read today's headlines, hoping they were more interesting than last week's. "Dog survives laundry adventure", "Jenova auction", "The success behind Shinra company", "Geesz, they really don't have anything more interesting to share?"she said in a sarcastic fashion.

She dumped the paper in the bin, made a cup of coffee and sat down on a chair underneath the window. "Time for breakfast" she thought. While leaning backwards in her chair, she tryed to open one of the cupboards to get some cereal. Carefully balancing on two of the chair legs she managed to open the board got grip of a cerealbox between her thumb and index finger. "Tifa, you're good" she grinned.

Just when she shook some cereal in a bowl the door rang. Tifa looked at her shiny silver watch; 8 AM. "Those movers are early".

"Morning m'am" The chubby bald headed man in the door opening said, "We're here to pick up some furniture, 6 tables and 24 chairs to be precisely". "Oh, those are located in the bar, follow me please" Tifa told the man. "When will you transfer my own furniture and personal stuff to my new home?" she asked. "Another truck will arrive within an hour or so, all your stuff should be at StormVale before the night falls". "Greeeaat" Tifa tried - but failed - to suppress a big yawn. "Early start?" The bold guy asked. "You bet!".

"Well I'll be leaving within half an hour for StormVale so I'll catch you guys later today" she replied.

After dressing up and gathering some of her basic need supplies – clothing, cell phone, make up and other luxury products – she took her car keys out of her pocket and went outside to start her Chevrolet and put some of her bags in the trunk.

An hour passed by and Tifa got fed up with the songs coming out of her car radio. "Please tell me that they do have decent channels the place I'm going" she moaned. She'd been trying to find some decent music but she was unsuccessful so far. "Okay, last try". She was switching channels when something distracted her.

"…_heim…Seph.i..r..….Mansion….Darkness shall fall once more."_

"What? Who? What's this? Who is this?" Shivers were all over her spine and in the arousal she pulled over in the verge of the road. She stared at the radio and tried to switch channels once more to locate the voice that just startled her. "Shiva, please say this isn't true, I must be hallucinating, that must be it, I'm imagining things because I'm stressed out". She reached for the backseats where she opened a box to pick up the photograph of her and her friends at the Golden Saucer. "I miss you all, why did we lose contact?". The only one she had seen a few times since Sephiroth's defeat was Barret Wallace, her best friend. He started a new life in Rocket Town with his daughter Marlene, he decided to live an easy one this time. No more fighting for him.

"_Tifa…"_

An angry male voice blasted out of the speakers once more. In impulse Tifa smashed the photograph towards the radio where the glass shattered to pieces. "Darn it" she muttered while wiping the glass off of her lap and testing the radio. "Good job dumbhead, you broke it". The radio kept silence. She leaned back in her chair and let out a sigh.

"What was that… It sounded as if someone was calling out for me… ". She grabbed her bag, took out a note block and her favorite bleu pen (which was a birthday present from Barret for her 19th birthday a few years back). "Okay, think Tifa think, what did you hear… something about the darkness shall fall once more and heim… something about heim". "What does Sep stand for? What's the relation between Sep and Heim…". 'Oh forget it, I'll look at it once I get to my new home".

Startled as she was by the voice and the message, she turned on the car engine and decided to continue her trip to StormVale.

"Hello M'am, good to see you finally arrived". The voice came from the same bold headed guy she met earlier that day. "Yeah, I got a…. some car trouble along the way" Tifa answered. She took a look at her watch and saw that she'd been driving for over 5 hours, while the route planner told her the fastest route would take at most 4 hours.

"Wow, did it really take me that long to come here?" she wondered. "Everything's settled, and we placed the furniture on the exact spots you ordered us to" the man spoke. "Great!" Tifa said in joy, "Thanks for everything, please send over the bill once you get the chance". "We'll do that m'am, enjoy your new home" the bloke greeted Tifa once more and made his way to the truck.

When she entered her new house she immediately noticed how tidy everything was even though nobody lived there for more than a year. She took a can of soda and settled herself in a comfy dark green chair to take out her note block. "Let's see… Sep… heim…oh, and mansion! I'm sure the voice mentioned that" she scribbled the word mansion next to the other words. For some reason the word mansion sent shivers down her spine and Tifa experienced a flashback.

She was in… Nibelheim. Everything was on fire and a tall figure with long silver hair was destroying everything that crossed his path, Sephiroth. In the distance she saw Nibelheim mansion enlarging in front of her while she was running towards it. Everything got black and she couldn't remember a thing.

"NO WAY" she screamed out. What does this mean? "The darkness shall fall once more" "It can't refer to Sephiroth… It can't!" "We defeated him… Cloud defeated him…, he's gone, he's no more." What was she going to do next? Was she going to call her old friends and tell them about the voice? They would obviously say that she'd gone mental. Maybe she should just visit Nibelheim to see if everything's okay over there, it's less than a one hour drive from where she was now.

The dream, the voice, the reoccurring thought of her friends… Maybe some higher-power spirit does want to send her a message after all…


	3. Nibelheim Revisited

**Chapter 3: Nibelheim Revisited. **

That night she had the same dream about Cloud and Sephiroth. Cloud went searching for someone –Sephiroth- and told Tifa –just before she woke up- that things aren't always what they seem.

Tifa didn't hesitate for a second and decided it was time to visit Nibelheim mansion once more.

She parked her car behind the old hostel in the suburbs of Nibelheim and made her way to see if there was still anyone left. An old woman greeted her heartily and asked what Tifa came to seek in a place like Nibelheim.

"You see, I grew up here and now I'm back for some sort of… family stuff". It was the first good excuse that came to mind. If she had only known what would come next, she wouldn't have used that excuse; the old woman started an story about the beginning of Nibelheim, the families that lived here, the all destroying fire some 10 years back and everything she knew about the Lockhearts.

"Thank you for the nice story miss.." "Everheart" The lady completed Tifa's sentence for her. "But I've got to get going, there are so many things left for me to do here" Tifa smiled. "It was nice to meet you miss Everheart, hope to see you some other time".

When Tifa came outside she decided to take a good look around town before entering any other houses and buildings, there were so many things to do and she couldn't use anymore long-winded stories that kept her from her task.

Nibelheim looked… dull. Most houses were rebuild after the fire and it seemed like they were inhibited the standard type of townspeople, nothing special to Tifa. As she climbed up the hill to reach the mansion she saw a folksy store where a few people were sitting around a table reading some magazines. "Must be the local chitty-chat club" she joked to herself as she continued her way up.

There it was… the mansion. To Tifas surprise it looked the same as it did all those years ago. Big white walls, massive stones and big hard wooden doors. The mansion was incircled by some sort of creepy ethos, and it wouldn't surprise Tifa if the townsfolk didn't dare to enter the Mansion to do some cleaning or renovating. Her throat got dry and her heart started to beat faster with every step that took her closer to the entrance.

She took the gargoyle-like knocker and knocked a few times on the door, though she didn't except anyone to answer it. To her surprise the door slid open and a muggy smell entered her nostrils. "Urgh, I'm so going to choke in here, I already miss the smell of fresh air" she muttered to herself while slowly edging into the mansions hallway.

"Hello? Anyone here? Hello?" No reply. She took a few steps forward and inspected the paintings hanging on the wall. They were breathtaking. The paintings pictured Nibelheim in the glorious days and the beautiful flora that surrounded the village. She wiped away some dust and saw that the paintings were dated from 1874. "Wow…"

"Beautiful aren't they, miss Lockheart?" A vaguely familiar voice sounded from behind her. The voice came unexpected and Tifa prepared herself for battle, she turned around to face her opponent. Without thinking she threw herself forward and hooked her opponent with some mighty punches. When she kicked up her left foot to knee him, her opponent took her feet and Tifa fell painfully on her back. When she opened her eyes she saw two intriguing red eyes staring back at her. "Vincent, You…. YOU IDIOT, YOU SCARED ME TO DEATH" Tifa yelled. She leapt to her feet, stumbled due to her rage and embraced Vincent to keep herself from falling once more. "Vincent what? How? Did those messages come from you?" Tifa questioned while releasing Vincent from her grip.

"Nice to see you again Tifa, good to see you're still in shape" Vincent spoke to her. "Thanks for the compliment Vincent" she remarked. "It was me indeed, who's been sending you those messages, I'm glad to hear you received them". "Geesz Vincent, couldn't you just phone me? That would've spared me many sleepless nights…" Tifa complained. Vincent gave her a warm smile and asked her to follow him to the living quarters.

Tifa told him her story from the dreams to the radio messages and eventually they came to the point: "But Vincent, what is the reason you tried to contact me? Have you contacted anyone else?" Tifa asked. "Tifa, I've been in contact with Diablo and Shiva whom asked me for help", "Let me tell you about it".

"In short, Shiva has seen into the future and a legendary warrior shall rise again if he gets the chance to do so. "What, how?" Tifa interrupted. "Hush Tifa, let me speak further".

This warrior is gathering an army of undead fighters around him and his ultimate goal is to lay his hands on the Golden Materia. If he lays his hands on this material, the earth will be lost forever.

Early researchers have theorized that the person who owns this materia will be able to travel back and forth between realms, which will allow this person to make changes in history. And as you can guess, this could be disastrous. What we need least at right now is someone who wants to play Father Time and tries to change the has spread that this man has settled underneath Cosmo Canyon and the Earths Guardian Forces are gathering a team that to put a stop to the plans of this man".

"But why me?" Tifa asked, still in awe of the story Vincent just told. "Well, my task was to deliver a worthy fighter to Diablo, he's gathering a team of warriors right as we speak. You were the easiest one to get in contact with". Tifa's face hardened while she looked kind of offended "And next to that you're a tremendous fighter" Vincent added.

"So, am I on the right track when I say that I'm supposed to visit Diablo to become part of his team?" she asked. "That's right Tifa, you should be leaving tomorrow morning after a good night of sleep" Vincent told her. "Vincent, you're serious right?" Tifa said in a laugh. "How on earth am I – and a few other second hand fighters- supposed to defeath Sephiroth. I mean, he's the strongest most vicious man I've ever know and no one is more powerful than he is, not even Cloud!".

"Hold it right there Tifa! Who said I was talking about Sephiroth?" Vincent asked in confusion. "Well… The dreams… I just… I guess I just assumed you mentioned him Vincent… So if it's not him than who is it?" Tifa relaxed, she was happy to hear that she wouldn't have to face Sephiroth this time.

"I don't know much about the man, but the Guardian Forces speak of him as Belthazor, he's some sort of demon breed. I've seen him once in the afterlife, He possesses great strength is muscular and has a red skin which is covered by tribal marks. I do not know much about his powers, but I've heard he's quiet powerful." Vincent spoke. Now go to bed Tifa, I'll teleport you to Midgar tomorrow". "What?" Tifa asked. "Midgar… but isn't Midgar destroyed…?" "Things aren't always what they seem Tifa, now go to bed. You can use the second room to the right on the second floor" After those words Vincent walked upstairs.


	4. An Unpleasant Surprise

**Chapter 4. An Unpleasant Surprise. **

"Morning Tifa, hope you had some sleep last night" Vincent asked while handing over the bag she'd let in the car the other day. "Haven't had bad dreams so I shouldn't complain" she answered.

"Please step over here Tifa, I'll teleport you to Midgar where you'll meet the rest of your team". Tifa went to stand in the circle and looked at Vincent in suspicion. "You're not going to do something…" But he didn't give her the time to finish her sentence and uttered some strange magical words. Within a flash everything turned black and Tifa was surrounded by darkness.

With a bang Tifa landed on her sore behind, which wasn't fully recovered from the fight with Vincent yet. She rubbed her left buttock to relief the pain when someone said "I'm glad to help you out with that". She turned around and stared at Diablo in disbelief. "Excuse me?" she said as if she didn't catch his words. Diablo let out a smirk and he dared her to follow him with his index finger.

"Shiva is waiting in the room next door she'll introduce you to your new partner" Diablo said in an amused tone. "Partner?" Tifa asked. "Vincent told me I would be participating in a team". "We've had a change of plans miss Lockheart, you and your partner will form a team together, and of course you're free to add a few more members yourself if you like. But that's totally up to you two". Tifa muttered something beneath her breath.

The door opened and Shiva greeted her warmly while sitting on her throne. Tifa kneeled in front of her and Shiva beckoned her to get back to her feet. "I hope Diablo treated you right, he can be such a… demon… sometimes" Shiva joked. "Please get up to your feet, there's absolutely no need to kneel down for me. Here we're all equals". Tifa got up and nervously shifted her weight from one feet to another. "I hope Vincent prepared you for the job, but as you've heard we had a change of plan so please listen up to what I've got to say". I was able to form a compromise with the afterlife's gatekeeper. He's been after Belthazor ever since that demon escaped from hell. I offered Belthazors life to him in exchange for the return of fighter of my choice, and of course I picked the strongest one I could find. Have no worries Tifa, he's adequate – though sometimes uncontrollable – and much stronger than Belthazor himself. He should do the trick".

"What I'm going to say next Is really important, so listen carefully Tifa". The fighter – whom you've already met a few times before – (Tifa's face stiffened) will be in charge of the team. If you want to live you should listen to him. He knows the ins and outs of this mission and met Belthazor in the afterlife."

"Tifa I want you to take place in the chair over there so I can introduce your leader".

"Thanks my lady, but I'd rather just stand here… if you don't mind" she replied, with uncertainty in her voice. "Tifa, sit down" Shiva ordered. Tifa slowly slid down into the cold iron chair, which hurt her buttocks even more.

Adrenaline was raging through her vanes; her heart was pumping the blood through her body faster than ever before. Her mind was expecting the worst and her body was preparing for battle. Her hand formed wrists and her nails cling into the iron bars,

The door opened and Tifa faced her worst nightmare; Sephiroth. There he was… his tender, muscular body covered in black leather clothing and his long silver hair billowing behind him. Within a second Tifa leapt to her feet and ran towards him in top speed. She jumped forward and tried to hit him with her wrists. Just before her wrists got in impact impact with his chest, he opened his emerald green eyes and blocked her attack with bare hands. "tsk tsk Lockheart, tell me, Is that the appropriate way to greet your new leader?" Sephiroth taunted. "On your knees" and he threw her backwards.

Tifa landed on the ground and yelled in agony and pain. She made a backflip and got herself to her feet again.

"Stop it at once, both of you!" Shiva's voice echoed through the icy hall. Her face had hardened which gave her a grim appearance. Just when Tifa wanted to shout something inappropriate to Sephiroth she was interrupted by a devilish laugh coming out of the corner. She turned to see Diablo laughing in amusement because of what he'd just witnessed. "Oh deary deary me" He laughed. "And this couple is going to save the day?".

"Silence Diablo" Shiva ordered. "I wish we were allowed to have a camera up here, this one would totally rock America's Funniest Homevideo's" Diablo continued. "shut up at once!" Shiva vociferated before aiming – and hitting – him with friezing spell. "Where were we… Oh yes, you two are going to promise me that you won't kill one and another along the way" and Shiva looked both of them in the eye.

"That monster killed my father! He killed Aeris, he murdered my friends, he's slain all those innocent people" Tifa shouted. "Do you really think I'm going to work together with HIM? Once we're outside I'm dead meat! A few weeks back I decided to start over, and to forget my past, and now you're going to saddle me up with him? I really don't think so" Tifa turned her back on Shiva and ran towards the door but Shiva closed it before Tifa made her way out. "What do you think you're doing Shiva? Let me go at once!" She took a look around the room searching for another exit and saw Sephiroth leaning against the wall in a cool fashion with his eyes closed.

Only looking at him made her blood boil and she was preparing for another fight. Just before she decided to attack a glow caught her eye. Sephiroth's massive blade, the masamune, was glowing in the icy sunlight. The look of the blade made Tifa change her mind. After all; he still hasn't promised that he won't kill her. Tifa kept silent and returned to the place she stood moments ago, before Sephiroth had entered the room.

"Sephiroth" Shiva questioned. "I do not promise a thing" he replied. "I don't do promises". "Don't forget our appointment Sephiroth or you'll return to the afterlife before you can say chocobo" Shiva warned him. Sephiroth opened his eyes "Fine, I do not want to waste my energy on a puny worm like her" he answered in a bored voice "There's your promise".

"haha, me? A worm? Don't make me laugh you idiot' Tifa said in anger. "I might not be as powerful as you are but I do have brains. And believe me, there are many more ways in which you can destroy a man next to the use of physical damage".

"Tifa" Shiva said. "You are pure hearted and we both know it's not in your power to kill Sephiroth – at that moment Sephiroth let out an irritating cough – but please, please do not start fights or quarrels with him". Shiva sounded deadly serious.

Tifa sighed "I'll try my best…". "But I'll never be able to forgive him for what he has done in the past". The thought of all those that died made her eyes watery once more.

Shiva stood up "That's settled then" and within a blink everything turned black once more.


	5. The Longest Journey

**Author note:**

Thanks for the review! There are far from enough TifaxSephiroth fics on the web and that's the reason why I decided to write one myself. Hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters, it's time to spice things up a little..

_Once again; I do not own any of these characters they are copyrighted by Squaresoft and the other FFVII game designers. I'm writing this fic just for fun. _

**Chapter 5. The Longest Journey. **

Tifa found herself in a field of red flowers when she woke up. The sweet flower scent seemed to enlighten her head. "Look who decided to join the party" A cold voice uttered.

The enlightened feeling made room for feelings of despair. It wasn't a dream… she actually _was_ trapped in the middle of nowhere with Sephiroth.

"We don't have all day, get up to your feet. Let me tell you that I'm not going to drag you along if that's what you're aiming for".

"Did you know?" she murmured underneath her breath so it was hard to hear "Know what?" Sephiroth demanded. "That we were supposed to form a team together, the two of us, you know what I mean". She replied with a shivering voice.

"Who cares, while working for Shinra I've worked with many idiots I could not stand to have around. But in the end, they all came to obey my orders, and that's what counts.

Well, too much information from my part, I'm a loner, get used to it and don't complain. Let's go".

Tifa hesitated for a second before asking "Where are we going anyway?" Sephiroth let out a growl "Haven't you listened? Where were your thoughts during the debriefing? Or did the dead vampy boy forget to explain what our mission is?".

Tifa stopped and reacted defensive "Dead vampy boy? Don't you dare to insult my friends!" she screamed. "You can insult me, but leave them out of this". "Or else… what?" Sephiroth taunted.

"_Don't let him get on your nerves Tifa… breath in, breath out and continue your journey, your better than him". _

"You'll find out soon enough, now let's go to Rocket Town" she said in a too friendly manner. "Rocket Town? I don't think so.

We're going to Cosmo Canyon the sooner I can pull my sword out of that demon's death body, the better" he said.

" No way, we need a team, I'm sure Barret and Cid will team up with us. With a team we'll have better chances of defeating Belthazor".

"Urgh" Sephiroth growled while his face showed signs of annoyance.

"Just keep quiet, I'm your leader and we're going to Cosmo Canyon, we don't need a team, I can handle the demon by myself and I don't need you either so keep your mouth shut before I lose my patience and who knows what might happen then".

Tifa could feel Sephiroths threatening green eyes pierce her innocent reds and decided it would be better to keep quiet…. for now. "Alright, Cosmo Canyon it is".

"My feet are killing me" she murmured to herself while trying to hide all signs of pain from _the leader_. While sunken in her own feet-killing thoughts she accidentally stepped on Sephiroth's billowing cape.

Sephiroth noticed and darted a piercing look over his shoulder 'till his eyes met hers. "Sorry" she whispered while trying to avoid his gaze.

"We're going to spend the night in the next village that we'll come across" he said to Tifa. "Sure". She was happy she could finally grant her feet some rest.

They had been walking over 10 hours now with only one fifteen minute break to drink and to eat the fruits Tifa gathered along the way. Much to her surprise Sephiroth didn't eat, he only drank some water.

While walking up a hill, Tifa saw the silhouette of a small town rise in the distance. As she and Sephiroth closed in on the town she read the words "Water Side" on a board. "Isn't that somewhere near Fort Condor?" she wondered.

Sephiroth stopped in front of a hostel. "Go and rent a room with two beds, I'll be over within 10 minutes" He handed over a creditcard and Tifa decided not to ask any questions, she was tired and the last thing she wanted was another quarrel with 'him'.

"Hello miss, can I help you?" The blond girl behind the reception desk asked. "I would like to rent one room with two beds for the night please" Tifa told her. The girl browsed through some papers before answering.

"I'm sorry miss, we're all full for tonight, we do have one room with one bed left". "One bed" She questioned out loud. "yes, it's a double bed" the girl uttered.

"No way that I'm sharing a bed with the murderer of my friends" she thought to herself. "Is there a couch or a chair present in the room miss?" Tifa asked the receptionist.

"Yes there's a chair, our rooms are totally furnished and luxurious. The one available for you even has a mini-bar and a balcony "Really? I guess I'll take it then"

Tifa made her way upstairs to check out the room she'd rented for the night. The moment she opened the door her mood finally improved. Her eye fell on a mini-bar, a telly, and at the far end of the room she saw a comfy bed.

"I'm in heaven" She yelled out while falling flat out on the soft red couch. "Not for long" Sephiroth's taunting voice sounded from the door entrance. His eyes were scanning the room and he couldn't resist making a nasty remark about the bed. "Only one bed. It's good to see you enjoy the couch so much".

"Hold it right there Sephiroth, the bed is _mine_". "My feet are killing me, I'm tired, I'm in need of sleep and I've tried to be as nice as possible to you today. I _need _the bed."

He snored "I don't want you to be even more of a pest tomorrow, have the bed". Tifa let out a sigh of relief; thank Shiva he gave in easy this time.

"I'm going to plan tomorrow's route" he said while walking downstairs.

When Sephiroth was gone Tifa saw her chance to call Barret and she reached for her cellphone in the bag. "Darn it, where is it?" She tried to remember when she'd last used it and came to the conclusion that she must've forgotten it at Nibelheim Mansion. "No, no, no! Tifa you chaotic cow" she scolded to herself while throwing the bag onto the mini-bar.

"I feel depressed once again" a tear rolled down her cheeks and she hugged a pillow between her chin and chest. She stared out of the window and inspected the stars. "What would dad say if he knew that I'm sharing a room with his murderer tonight?".

"Don't think about Sephiroth in that fashion Tifa, it's only making things worse" A voice in her head echoed. "If he wanted to hurt you he would've done that already and you've met many men that acted ten times more macho then Sephiroth does". He lips curled and she revealed a sad smile.

She took of her boots and walked to the bathroom "Time for a nice hot shower". After showering she took a purple dressing-gown off the hook and wrapped herself in it. "Nice and comfy" she thought.

Just when she decided to call it a day, she heard a bang and turned to see her bag lying in front of the mini-bar "It must've fallen off". She picked up the bag and shove it aside as the mini-bar caught her attention.

She opened the door and took out some fine wine. "Just a little, it'll help me to fall asleep" she told herself to ease her bad conscience.


	6. Confessions

_Authors note: Only a short one this time, the next one will be longer, I promise! _

**Chapter 6. Confessions. **

She was nipping on her third glass when Sephiroth came in. He walked right passed her and without saying a word entered the bathroom. A few minutes later Tifa heard the sound of water coming out of the tap so he must've decided to take a shower as well.

After a few minutes the bathroom door opened and Sephiroth walked into the living quarters wearing nothing more than a towel that was wrapped around his waist.

Tifa couldn't help herself staring at Sephiroths muscular body, so that's the body that's hidden underneath all the black leather. Tifa blushed when Sephiroth stared back at her.

"What?" He asked. "Nothing" she replied.

Sephiroth walked silently towards Tifa and noticed the – almost – empty bottle of wine in front of her. He picked up the bottle and examined it.

"You've been drinking, don't dare to slow us down tomorrow".

"Don't worry, I've only had three glasses and I've had my own bar you know" she replied in a soft dreamy voice, still staring at his chest.

"Go to sleep Tifa" he said in a demanding tone while turning his back on her making his way to the tap to get something to drink.

"Sephiroth?"

"What now?" He asked sounding irritated.

"You've changed, you're not the opponent I faced in the mako reactor, you're not the guy that tried to kill me, and you're no longer the monster that murdered my father or Aeris".

Sephiroth stiffened and this situation made him feel uncomfortable. He did not expect this question, nor was he good at conversations. How should he explain to her? He didn't even know whether or not he wants to clarify everything that happened to him.

"To make a long story short " he said while leaning against the wall "when I died by the boy's hand, the part of me that died was the part Shinra created. The part of me that was human lived on in the afterlife. When Shiva resurrected me, what I became, is what I am now".

" If that's true… then why are you still such an ignorant prick sometimes?" The words escaped from Tifa's mouth before she even noticed.

Sephiroth was startled by her remark but next to that he admired her for her brutality. "Listen Lockheart, the monster in me may have died that day, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let someone like you offend me".

"I'm an asshole by nature" he replied while lifting her up harshly by her wrists and carrying her to the bed where he let go of her. "I do not tolerate another word from you today".

He took one of the cushions of her bed and threw it onto _his_ soft red couch; he stretched out, positioned his body on it, and relaxed a bit. Feeling relieved that he finally found some rest.

It had been an exhausting day for him. "She definitely was exhausting".

_Thanks for reading! Please take the time to leave a review, that would totally rock my day._

_The next chapter will be darker (but also more romantic)… so be prepared._


	7. Dangerous Games

**Chapter 7. Dangerous Games. **

The following morning Sephiroth woke up early, the room service was knocking on the appartment door. "I hate these luxurious hostels' he growled. "Go away, it's not as if we need anything. And if we do, we'll be sure to let you know" he said in to the service woman with an unfriendly tone.

Tifa woke up due to Sephiroth's loud voice. She sat up straight in her bed and did some stretch exercises to soften the muscle tension. The pain in her feet was finally gone, but her wrist hurt a little. "Must've been last night" she thought.

She tryed her best to concentrate on what happened before she fell asleep, but it didn't help, she couldn't remember anything that happened after her third glass of wine.

Much to her surprise, she remembered the main details of the conversation she had with Sephiroth last night. It was about how he became the person he is now. She felt somewhat more comfortable by knowing that he's no longer the monster he used to be, though she still thought of him as a rude asshole.

"I see you're awake" Sephiroth's voice sounded from behind the couch. Tifa guessed he was still lying stretched out on it. "Get dressed, we'll be leaving in 20 minutes" he added. "What's on the tour today?" She asked with a questioning tone in her voice.

"We'll be heading straight toward Cosmo Canyon, though I doubt we'll get there within three days if we travel by foot. I've decided we're going to take the train stationed South of here, it'll take us to Rocket Town, from there, we'll continue our journey by foot ". Sephiroth ended his sentence as if he were expecting Tifa to foul mouth him.

But she kept quiet, after the conversation with him last night she decided to give him a chance to prove he has changed. She would visit Barret and Cid in Rocket Town though she decided not to mention Sephiroth's name nor the burden she and him shared.

"I'm okay with that Sephiroth" she answered, "But You can't stop me from visiting my old friends". "Do whatever you want, as long as you keep me out of it, otherwise your friends might end up… metamorphosed" He said in a tone of amusement.

Tifa raised her voice. "Like I told you before, hurt me, scold at me, but only at me! Leave the others out of this." Tifa sighed and tried to cool down. The thoughts of her friends were her most beloved posession. Tell me Sephiroth, would you've been happier if they saddled you up with someone else, like say: Cloud".

He burst into laughter. "Do you really think I'd form a team with him?". "We would've slayed eachother the moment we lay an eye on one and another at".

"Listen missy, I'm a loner and I don't like to cooperate with others, especially not when that other person is a feminine brat" he said with a piercing gaze on Tifa. He turned around to ignore Tifa's angry facial expression.

"_That's it…I've tried. I've tried to be nice, I've tried to have a conversation with him, and most of all I've tried not to use… my fists_" She thought while she launched herself to backstab him.

She landed on his back and tossed her arms around his neck to fasten herself to his body for better grip "You asshole" She yelled while trying to dominate him to the ground. Sephiroth did not speak a word but tried to loosen her grip. He took her sore wrist which resulted in what he hoped for; she loosened her grip immediately and fell of back groaning in pain.

Sephiroth had a hardened expression on his face and roughly dragged her a few meters into the center of the big room on the woolen white carpet. "You want to fight me? Fine. Give me your best shot Lockheart" He said with a smirk.

Without a warning he created an energy sphere in the pal m of his hand and threw it at Tifa. The ball of energy hit her in the face and left her blinded for a few seconds.

During the blindness she felt how the back of her head hit the concrete wall, the pain from the blow unleashed even more rage inside of her.

As soon as she regained vision she automatically ducked downwards to avoid any possible incoming blows from Sephiroth's fists.

She jumped up from her heels and used her left knee to kick Sephiroth in the chest. To her surprise he didn't move an inch though she was sure he couldn't have blocked the blow.

She made her way to the centre of the room and prepared herself for the use of an ice attack on him. A sphere of pure white light grew in size while holding it in both palms of her hand.

Sephiroth prepared himself for her rage by creating an energy attack of his own. Within seconds she threw the sphere in his direction and – as a counter attack- he followed her lead and did the same.

The impact of the two ice spells was enormous; a big explosion followed and filled the room with shining with light that left both fighters in awe.

Tifa used her left hand to wipe away a trail of blood from her the back of her head, and used her right one to ease the painful blow she received on her upper lip.

She sneaked around the furniture – or what was left of it – to get to the other side of the room where she wanted to surprise the _monster_.

Sephiroth stood calmly on the same spot where he was before the blast and tried to get the feminine fighter in visor once more. "She must've hidden her ass somewhere in the white smoke" he thought.

After a mean barking laugh he decided it would be nice to scare her out of her hiding place. "Had enough Lockheart?".

Tifa did her best not to reveal her presence to him as she suppressed an evil laugh. Her body was aroused and she wanted to show him what she was made off.

Sephiroth got in sight; he was still leaning against the concrete wall he used to smacked her head a few minutes ago. The first thing she noticed was the satisfaction she could read from his facial expression." No doubt about it, he's in his element while fighting" she softly whispered to herself.

As she crawled closer to him, she knew she had to attack right now if she waited any longer he would definitely notice her presence.

But this time she's going to do things the girly way and she aimed for his crotch with her elbow. "That'll teach him not to speak about women in a diminishing way" she grinned.

She got to her feet and aimed for him. Sephiroth was struck by surprise and was too late to block the attack. She hit him hard.

He grabbed for his crotch and stumbled backwards against the wall. Tifa enclosed the distance between them by pressing her upper body hard against his, trying to mash him between her and the wall.

Sephiroth showed her his evil grin once more; he enlarged his muscular chest which thrust Tifa a few inches backwards. Within one fast movement he managed to turn around and got Tifa stuck in a painful position against the cold wall.

The tides had changed.

Tifa tried to move her hands, but he was holding them roughly together behind her back.

She closed her eyes, not wanting to know what was going to happen next.

She felt something cold gently sliding up and down against her throat, it felt like metal. "The masamune" she cried to herself – eyes still closed-. Her body stiffened. "this is it, the story ends here, murdered by the man I that I just started to trust". A tear rolled down her cheek.

The razor sharp blade stopped its movement and rested on her collar-bone. "Well, well. You surprised me, seems like you've got a backbone after all" Sephiroth spoke with an apocalyptic tone. "Open your eyes and look me in the eye" he demanded.

Tifa slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head to so she stared in his mysterious emerald eyes. He was at least a head taller than she was. Her breath stocked, she'd never been so close to him before, she hadn't even been this close to Cloud.

She couldn't help noticing how…well… handsome his face was. He was handsome in a strange kind of way. "Green eyes, spotless skin, small nose, muscular chin and cheekbones…very masculine" she thought.

Sephiroth stroke his finger through the blood that was gently flowing from downwards from her lip into her bosom. He brought his finger to his mouth and tasted some of it. "Sweet as honey, just the way I like my prey".

He tightened his grip on her wrists and Tifa let out a moan of pain. The tightening of his grip made her come forward and the distance between her and her capturer grew even smaller.

She felt her breasts squeeze even harder against his hard muscular chest and let out another moan of pain… though this one was accompanied with pleasure. It felt good to be this close to him, to be dominated by him.

Sephiroth fell silent as Tifa closed her eyes once more. He noticed the change of her facial expression, she was in pain, but she seemed to enjoy it.

This surely caught him by surprise.

"Next time remember who's in charge Tifa" he hissed. She felt his warm breath on her skin and decided to give up her resistance to Sephiroth's powerful body.

Without a warning he let go of Tifa's body and she fell onto the carpet. When she opened her eyes she tried to get a glimpse of Sephiroth and she saw a the tip of his black leather coat billowing out of the apartment door.

_Well, this is going somewhere…. Naughty Tifa. _

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter; I definitely did while working on it!_

_Please take the time to leave a review. _


	8. Meet & Greet

_**Authors note:** Thanks for the reviews! They really keep me going. It's great to know people are actually reading and enjoying your fic_.

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of these characters. Tifa & Sephiroth are the property of Squaresoft and the creators of the Final Fantasy series. They've got nothing to do with this story. This is purely written for fun, to amuse my readers and myself. Belthazor's a mythological demon, I have no idea who came up with him, but he ain't a creation of mine. xD_

**Chapter 8. Meet and Greet. **

She got up to her feet and felt her heartbeat in her throat. Her hand touched the spot where she had last felt Sephiroth's warm breath.

She gently caressed her skin and her fingers trailed the drops of blood in her neck seeking for the place he cut her with his blade. "What on earth just happened?" she questioned herself, still in confusion.

"Hmm… there's no cut?" she wondered "So he didn't slit me with the blade." She went to the bathroom and examined herself in the mirror. "But man, do I look horrible!"

She took a flannel and carefully cleaned out the cut in her lip followed by the traces of drying blood in her neck. The blood surrounding the head wound had already cluttered and Tifa decided it would be best not to interfere with her body's natural healing process.

Thoughts were running through her head as she tried to get a grip on _what_ just happened between her and Sephiroth. "Did I enjoy it?" she sank down to her knees once more.

"What was I thinking? No, what was _he_ thinking? She whispered. "Why didn't_ I_ want _him_ to let go of me… even though I was in pain... No wait, why did _I_ start this fight in the first place? I knew it would end up horribly… though I never expected it would end _this_ way".

Tifa closed her eyes, crossed her arms around her knees and started rocking back and forward desperately trying to arrange her thoughts.

An hour later the apartment door flew open and Sephiroth made his way to the living room. "Lockheart" He called out for her.

Quickly Tifa got to her feet and rushed herself to the living room, acting as casual as possible. She expected Sephiroth to confront her with the trifle they had an hour earlier, but to her surprise he kept awfully quiet about that.

"I've had contact with the all-so-mighty Shiva" -Tifa noticed the sarcasm in his voice while he said that - "Diablo managed to lay his hands on the golden material, which means it's out of the demon's hands for the time beingt". He paused.

"The demon has send almost all of t his troops to recover the material from Diablos hands in Midgar, so I don't expect much trouble along the way"

"We've wasted enough time this morning – deeming Tifa - so we're leaving _right now_". He said demandingly, looking her right in the eye. She answered with a blush.

Tifa took her bag and stuffed in some personal stuff she was able to recover from underneath the remains of the furniture that perished during their fight.

She went to check out of the hostel and was helped by the same blond girl that she'd met yesterday. With a complaining voice, the girl started a speech;

"I hope you've cleaned up most of your mess. You and your boyfriend should've checked out at 10AM this morning, so you're two hours late. Even when we send over the room service, your man told her in a rude way to… buzz off."

Hearing those words Tifa turned red. "He's not my boyfriend" she muttered nervously hoping Sephiroth couldn't hear her "And yes… we cleaned up most of our mess" she quickly added, trying not to think about the furniture she and Sephiroth trashed.

When she came outside she saw Sephiroth sitting on a bench, apparently waiting for her. "Was about time, I almost decided to go on my own" he complained. "Then why didn't you?" Tifa snapped back.

"Don't start again Lockheart" he grinned. "The message should be clear by know, you should know you can't handle me". Tifa saw he stared at the cut that flawed her feminine lips... "Are you always _that _passionate when it comes to fighting... a man?" He sneered.

Tifa gave him a look of disapproval and decided it would be better just to continue the journey to the train, that was stationed 2kilometers South of where they were now.

The train would take them to Rocket Town, where Tifa would finally be able to see three of her friends again.

Sephiroth took the lead – as usual- and for the first time Tifa had to trouble keeping up with him. "Can't he slow down a little?" she sighed in annoyance.

Something in the bushes caught her attention and she turned her head to take a better look at it; she'd been hearing a cracking sound ever since they left Water Side. She stopped and turned around to face the bush, to her distrust, the cracking sound stopped. "What the…" Tifa couldn't finish her sentence; she was floored by something big and hairy.

"She got up to her feet and saw Sephiroth fighting the "Animal?". It had twice the length of Tifa and was covered by dirty white fur. It reminded her most of the Chewbacca thing from Star Wars.

An angry growl made her skin crawl which made her instinct to tell her to duck. When she hit the ground she felt a squall passing her back.

Another hairy beast, just like she thought. The Chewbacca-like creature was crushing the sandy ground underneath his hoofs which caused it to develop a sandy veil.

The beast was ready to strike Tifa down once more when it ran towards her. Tifa pushed herself off the ground sideways with her hands so her feet hit the creature frontal in it's chest.

For a moment she thought it would stumble backwards, but it regained balance and let out another growl.

She looked to her right and saw Sephiroth enjoying the fight with the beast. He had taken out his sword and lashed it around as if it weighted nothing.

Tifa blocked some incoming attacks. "He might be big and imposing, but he definitely lacked the strength you would expect a creature of this size to have" She thought.

"You've had your chance you Chewwy! Now it's my turn!" she yelled. She rushed at her enemy and punched him a few times. She somersaulted into the air while kicking the creature in his abdominal.

The animal let out a growl in pain and stumbled to the ground. As it hit the ground, Tifa saw the monster becoming one with the life stream. It had died.

"Took you long enough" Sephiroth's voice sounded. She saw him wiping blood of his masamune with a lime green cloth. She was absolutely sure she'd seen that extraordinary color before…

"Wait a second" as she stared in disbelief at Sephiroth's hands. "Is that my panty?"

He spread out the cloth and she saw it actually was her brand new lime green panty. Before she could scowl at him she got distracted by a clapping sound.

Sephiroth and she both turned to the direction the sound came from and saw a hooded man, dressed in a black cloak. He appeared to be applauding for them. "Well done, well done" a low voice sad.

"I must say I'm impressed, it seems like Shiva finally found someone who has a fifty percent chance of murdering me" He spoke while focusing his attention on Sephiroth.

Tifa let out a shriek. "You mean that… you… you're Belthazor?" she asked in suspicion.

The man lowered his hood and Tifa took a few steps backwards while inspecting the appearance. His skin colored crimson red, black tribal marks were all over his face, the eyes were filled with fire and his teeth shined as sharp razor blades.

She heard a lashing sound and saw Sephiroth's blade pierce the man's chest. Tifa's mouth opened in awe while she brought her hands to her face in anguish. "Was this it? Did Sephiroth murder him"…

An evil laugh appeared on the demon's face. "Did you really think I would let you murder me that easily?" he bellowed. "What you see is nothing more than a copy of my soul, my true body and soul are hidden in safety".

The sword slid its way downward through the body, but there weren't any signs of blood to bee seen.

"You could say that I'm a hologram" Belthazor laughed before he vanished.

Tifa stared at Sephiroth, who looked really crotched by what just happened.

* * *

_Author's note_

_Not much romance this time... sorry! __But I'll make it up to you guys, I'll post the next chapter later today (Which does have some interesting thingies in it). _

_You've got to admit it, Seph&Tifa are really cute together. I would've liked it to write more romance in this chap, but I've got to stick to characters personality. Tifa can be passionate... but Sephiroth still has some problems doing so. He has never loved someone, so everything is new for him. _

_Reviews are appreciated!_


	9. A Bumpy Ride

**Chapter 9. ****A Bumpy Ride**

Silence was encircling them; both did not speak for minutes.

"Damn it, I thought I had him" Sephiroth said while angrily smashing a rock into more than thousand wrecks. "So did I" Tifa added.

He gave her a characterless look and nodded affirmative with his head.

"Do you still want this one back?" He used the tip of his masamune to pick up Tifa's lime green panty.

"You're horrid you know that" she looked at him in disgust. "That one was really expensive, you don't find pantys in that color everyday" she grumbled.

"Men, they have no clue how hard it is to buy good lingerie and worst of all; now I'm stuck with a panty- less bra while I only wear sets".

"Too much information Lockheart," he said while looking the other way to dodge her angry gaze.

"Come on." Sephiroth took off while beckoning her to follow him to the train station.

When the train was stationed Sephiroth inserted a pass into the cart reader, and a sealed door – that lead to the first class coupes – opened. They walked through the hallway and entered the third one located on the left.

"Where'd you get the pass?" Tifa asked him. "It's a reminiscent from my time as a general" he answered while casting her a "You-really-want-to-know-everything" look.

Tifa logged onto the computer system in their coupe, and saw that the train should arrive at Rocket Town within 50 minutes. "That means I've got plenty of time to take a shower" she smiled and entered the tiny shower cabin.

"Sephiroth, I'm going to take a shower" she said while peeking around the corner to see what he was doing. "Where'd he go?" she wondered while scanning the cabin.

"Whatever" She took of her clothing and inspected the available shampoo and foam. "A fine rose scent will do" she took one of the small bottles. She turned on the water and enjoyed the warm water drops touching her delicate skin.

The train appeared to be making a turn and Tifa almost lost her balance. "Holy moly" she coughed while preventing herself from falling.

After ten minutes she turned of the water, wrapped a towel around her body and stepped out of the shower cabin. "Sephiroth" she asked with a trembling voice. "Are you back?" but she got no answer.

"Good, coast's clear" she sang to herself.

As she entered the coupes main room, she took her skirt, top and boots to dress herself.

"Strange, where could he be?" After dressing herself she walked out of the coupe and followed the hallway to search for Sephiroth.

When Tifa entered the last wagon the train suddenly came to a halt, Tifa stumbled forward.

She heard loud bangs on the wagon's roof, it sounded like footsteps varied with hard bangs. "Sephiroth" she yelled while making her way to the nearest exit, to see what was going on.

In the distance she could hear the other passengers running and screaming as if something horrible had happened. Tifa made her way outside and climbed up the iron ladder that lead her to the roof of the wagon.

She saw a huge skeleton wyvern attacking Sephiroth by trying to body slam him. "Tifa, watch out!" Sephiroth yelled, as the wyverns spiky tail aimed to smack her off the wagon.

Tifa jumped up and the wyvern's tail lashed underneath her feet.

As the wyvern had its focus on Tifa, Sephiroth saw a chance to slice the creature's chest with his mighty masamune.

The wyvern let out a growl of pain and flew off.

"It feels good when he calls me by my first name"Tifa thought, while turning her head to face Sephiroth. As they made eye contact, he collapsed onto the wagon.

"No, Sephiroth!" She screamed and ran over to him.

She kneeled down by his side and felt wheter he was still breathing or not. After rolling him on his back she noticed a gigantic deep cut on his chest. "Sephiroth…Sephiroth get up" she asked with a soft trembling voice. "Please Sephiroth…don't leave me hanging all by myself."

Slowly his eyes opened and he was started panting. "Sephiroth!" she squeaked while helping him sit up straight. "Thank Shiva he's still alive…" she whispered to herself.

She lifted his arm around hr neck and pulled him up straight. Her other arm was placed around his waist and supported him while they made her way down the ladder, inside to their coupe.

"I'll be right back Sephiroth, hold on" she said with a worried voice. She ran to the first wagon where the other passengers and the conductor were located.

"The Wyvern is gone, can you get this train back on track asap?" she spoke to the conductor. "I… I'll… try" he quivered.

"Do you have an aid kit around here? "She quickly added.

"Yes miss, behind the bar" he answered.

Tifa ran over to the bar, found the kit behind some barrels, and made her way back to the coupe where Sephiroth was.

He was lying on the couch, his eyes peacefully closed. Tifa sat down next to him, and placed a pillow underneath his head.

She examined his face and sighed in relief, he wasn't bleeding from his mouth or nose. With her fingers she inspected his body from his neck on downward 'till she touched the centre of the cut.

Tifa hesitated for a second but decided to unbutton the top layer of his coat to get a better idea of what the cut looked like, and how to cure it.

As she did so, she glanced at Sephiroth's face to see if it was safe to do so. She knew it was dangerous to touch his gear, he absolutely hated that.

Luckily for her, Sephiroth didn't move an inch. "Wow... he really has a fit body" she remarked while looking at his muscular arms and chest.

Underneath his coat he wore some leather suspenders which crossed over at his chest and attached it selves to opposite side of his trousers. "Where would he use these for" she wondered.

She took some alchol, bandage and cotton-wool out of the aid kit and carefully used the alcohol to clean the wound. She saw the muscles in Sephiroth's abdominal twitch.

"Urgh I never been good at nursing people" she cursed to herself, trying to dab some of the blood.

Just when she reached out to for some bandage, she felt Sephiroth body temperature lower. The wound stopped bleeding and the blood cluttered.

Tifa stared in astonishment at what happened next.

"He's healing himself?" she whispered as the cut narrowed and eventually vanished.

Sephiroth directed his hand to the place where the cut had been several minutes ago. "Finally" he spoke in his casual manner as he inspected the spot and eventually concluded the cut had disappeared.

He opened his eyes and saw Tifa sitting next to him while deeming him with great interest and concern.

"Sephiroth…" Tifa took his hand "I thought I lost you." She said with a sparkle in her eyes.

"_Attention Ladies and Gentleman, I'm glad to announce the train's working again. We'll arrive at Rocket Town in about 10 minutes" The conductor's voice sounded through the speaker. _

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter!_

_Please take some time to leave a review, even if you don't have an fanfiction account. I also enjoy reading anonymous reviews!_

_With love, Aureus. _


	10. Reflections

_Authors note: This is a short reflection from Tifa & Sephiroth's point of view in which they reflect on what happened last few days and how they experienced it. _

**Chapter 10. Reflections**

"Ill weeds grow apace Tifa."

He moaned and stretched out before sitting up straight.

Tifa –still sitting at the side of the couch- stared at him with watery eyes and couldn't control herself any longer. She leaned forward and encircled him in embrace.

She pushed her nose into his neck and let out a small sob. "You really scared me, what would I have done if you'd died?" she murmured accusingly.

Sephiroth had no idea what to do. He nervously placed his hand on her lower back; he'd seen some guys do that to their girls on those idiotic SOLDIER parties.

"Hey, you and your weakling friends were hardly a match for me. Did you really think a creature like the wyvern could kill me?" He said to soothe her.

Slowly Tifa released Sephiroth out of her embrace, she smiled at him. "You're an asshole, you know that?"

"Come on, the train will arrive soon" he said while grabbing his black leather coat and trying to change the subject.

As they got off the train, Tifa squealed in joy. "Yeah! Rocket Town" she started heading north. "Where do you think you're going?" Sephiroth's voice sounded.

"To visit my old friends" she said. "Please Sephiroth; can't we stay here for the rest of the day?" Sephiroth took out a device of his pocket it read 7PM. "Have fun" he said to Tifa.

"I'm going to find a place to eat rest and prepare myself for out upcoming fights in Cosmo Canyon".

"Wait up Sephiroth, I'd like to share a room with you tonight… If you don't have a problem with that" she said in a sweet way. "I tend to sleep better when I know you're around_… _so many things have happened today, I feel safer when you're around."

"I'll let you know where I'm at" he answered as if he couldn't care less.

He made his way to the Northern part of Rocket Town.

"_Women" Sephiroth sighed. "Two hours ago she wanted me death, the next thing you know she's crying at my shoulder because she doesn't want me to die" he pondered. "She wants to share a room tonight, while she tried to murder me the last time we did"._

"_She's brutal, she's sweet and she's a bitch."_

…_She has gotten under my skin…_

"_I don't care her nursing me; I don't even care her touching my gears"._

_There's something special about her. _

_But why, can't she just sort out her priorities? Just like man do? She hates me or she doesn't, it's as easy as that."_

Tifa decided to take the first road on her left.

She saw the old rocket and was convinced she would be able to find Cid's house from there on.

"_Men" Tifa sighed. "Two hours ago I wanted him death and now I don't want him to die. He used to be a heartless asshole but now he's finally showing some signs of affection. Are these for real or is it just for show?_

_He murdered my friends, tried to murder me more than once, yet saved me several times. _

_He's cruel, he's mean, and he's a total jerk. _

_Yet I care for him. I feel for him, I… long for him. _

_I enjoy it when I touch him, whether I'm fighting or nursing him._

_There's something special about him._

_But why can't he just decide whether he wants to be the killer or the hero? Just pick a side: good or evil. It's as easy as that….. Idiot."_


	11. The Reunion

**Chapter 11. The Reunion**

After walking for ten minutes, she spotted the house she'd visited before with Cloud and the others.

When Tifa saw the jet that was located in the garden, she just knew she found the right house.

A bloke with dark green trousers and a blue shirt was lying on the ground while fastening some screws. Even though Tifa couldn't see his head (which was hidden underneath the jet) she was sure she knew who it was.

No doubt about it, it was Cid.

"Hello Sir, long time no see" Tifa said.

A loud bang was followed by some grumbling. "Aye, my damn head" Cid grumbled as he withdrew his upper body from under the jet.

"Tifa" her appearance obviously took him by surprise; as he coughed due to the inhaling of too much cigarette smoke.

"What's ya doing here?" he said while trying to ease his coughing. "I…I'm on a journey." She lied. "Rocket Town was on the route, so I decided to drop by to visit you and Barret."

"Strange coincidence, Barret can be here any minute now; he invited himself and Marlene over for a drink" Cid spoke. "Will you be staying to? The more the merrier".

"I'd love to! You don't come across your old friends everyday right?"

"Tifa, Tifa, Tifa!!!" A happy girly voice yelled. Tifa turned to see Marlene running right at her. "My Marlene, have you grown!" She opened her arms and hugged the young teenager.

"Well, well" a low voice spoke in joy. "Why didn't you give us a call? We could've arranged a reunion you know. We could've invited Red, Yuffie and all of the others to celebrate Sephiroths downfall once again".

"Urgh... yeah" Tifas face hardened. But I forgot my cell at Nibelheim mansion… so I couldn't call anyone.

"Nibelheim? What were you doing there?" Barret asked with suspicion. "Way to go Tifa, you blabber" her voice echoed inside of her head.

"I just told Cid I'm on a journey which lead me to Rocket Town, along the way I had to visit Vincent, he's staying at Nibelheim Mansion." She swallowed, desperately trying to damp her dry throat.

"So, where's the journey heading? And you're all by yourself?" Barret continued questioning her.

"Great" she thought with sarcasm. "Barret's on the rol". She let out a sigh.

"Ah no… I've teamed up with… a guy I met… well… he's…" She scratched her forehead "he's a great fighter and became a friend of mine".

"Really? A guy huh" Barret said in a taunting fashion, trying to lure more information out of her. "Come on Tif, tell me about him".

"Barret I'm sorry" she stuttered. "I don't really want to talk about him now, why don't you and Marlene tell me something about your new lives in Rocket Town?" She proposed.

"Let's go sit on the terrace, Shera has the coffee ready" Cid spoke.

Tifa gave him a questioning look "She's still with you?"

"Yeah we got married last summer, surprised?"

Hours past by as Tifa and her friends exchanged some stories. It seemed like everyone was doing fine. The clock hit 11 o'clock and Tifa realized she'd had to search for Sephiroth at some hotel.

_Where could he be? What did he say? He'd search for me_? "Damn, I have to get out of here before he shows up" she panicked.

"Guys, it was great to speak to you all but I really have to go" she said while getting up from her chair.

"Why the hurry all of a sudden Tifa?" Marlene asked. Tifa could hear the sadness in her voice.

"Well… I told you about my… uhm… partner right? I've told him I'd head for the hotel to accompany him tonight.. No! wait! Scratch that!.., I mean I'd head for the hotel so we could have an early start tomorrow!" Tifa could feel her head become swollen; all eyes were focused on her.

"Both reasons are fine by me Lockheart" a voice came out of the darkness. All heads turned to see whom the voice belonged to.

She shrieked. "Seph... Sephillius wait, I'm coming, don't move!".

"Sephillius?" everyone questioned.

A tall figure stepped out of the darkness and let out a devilish laugh.

Chaos grew among her friends

As for Tifa… She just wished she were dead.

"This can't be!" Barret barked in anger. "Everyone step back and prepare for battle!" He aimed his gun at Sephiroth's stature and fired.

Cid took one of the iron bars that were lying on the ground and took a defensive pose. Shera took Marlene by the hand and hurried inside with her.

As for Tifa… she didn't do a thing, she just stood there.

Sephiroth easily reflected the bullets with his masamune and Cid's attack felt like a bee sting to him.

"You two should know better, if you encourage me to fight, you'll have to bare the consequences" Sephiroth's voice echoed with a tone of sinister amusement.

"Tifa, hurry up, get your ass inside and save Marlene. We'll hold this guy back" Barret yelled.

Sephiroth chuckled. "I see, she hasn't told it yet". Tifa saw everyone staring at her while she decided it would be for the best to explain the whole situation before things got out of hand.

"It's just that…" Tifa started but couldn't finish her sentence as Barret interrupted her.

"What's ya talking 'bout! You monster, you're not going to take anymore lives on this planet! Get 'm Cid".

Everything happened so fast, Tifa didn't know what to do. She couldn't blame her friends for their reaction… yet she knew Sephiroth wasn't going to say no to a fight he didn't start for himself.

"I warned you" he taunted in a voice filled with boredom. Cid and Barret launched for him and the battle began.

Bangs, growls and screams could be heard.

----

She couldn't take it anymore and decided to solve this problem in the old fashioned way.

While emptying her thoughts she concentrated on the creation of her final heaven attack.

Energy was storing for a few minutes before she was ready.

She released the attack on the three fighters, and watched how the whole garden exploded.

Cid and Barret were lying underneath some rubble, while Sephiroth was standing on top of them. They all gave her a look of amazement.

"Finally" She spoke out loud. "Now shut up and listen to what I've got to say!"

"AsyoumusthavenoticedbynowSephiroth'saliveandhe'smytravelpartner"

"Come again?" Cid looked at her with questioning eyes.

"Sephiroth and I, are on a journey together to complete an important task given to BOTH of us by Shiva.

"Bwhahaha" Barret barked "Tifá's gone mad" he said while trying to escape from underneath the rubble.

"You mean, you and him form a team and are on a journey together?" Cid still looked as if he had no idea what she just said.

"Liar" Barret spat.

If only looks could kill right now, Barret and Cid would be the first two to go.

"Kick ass attack Tifa! Besides, I trust you . If Sephiroth was here to murder you or us, he would've done so already" A feminine voice said from inside Cid's house.

"Thank you Marlene, you're absolutely right about that" Tifa answered.

Everyone was glaring at one and another, Sephiroth seemed to enjoy himself by giving threatening looks to Cid and Barret.

"You've totally lost it I'd say, teaming up with HIM, what on earth are you thinking?" Barret yelled. "Did you forget what he's done to your father? To us?"

"NO Barret, as a matter of fact I didn't!" She scowled back at him. "You have no idea what I've been through last few days, and I must admit it were the best days of my life in five years."

"You sound so much unlike you Tifa, what happened to the girl down to earth attitude you always had?" Cid asked.

"I don't have time for his nonsense" Sephiroth said while rolling his eyes. "You can find me at the Ocean View Hotel Lockheart" he said before he vanished.

"Guys… so much has happened last few years, or should I say; so much hasn't happened last few years" She sighed. "After the fight against Him – she pointed at the place where Sephiroth had been standing a few minutes ago – I got lonely".

Everyone had a place to go to, everyone had someone to share their stories and thoughts with… but I hadn't. I came to the conclusion that Cloud didn't love me, his heart belonged to Aeris. He's never gotten over her death.

I've been lonely, and yes, those lonely years have changed me."

Nobody said anything.

"Well, I do understand Tifa" Marlene said. "It's a girl's thing" she gave the guys a disapproving look.

"To make a long story short" Tifa continued. "I can't fill you in on all the details, but me and Sephiroth are going to put an end to the dark plans of some demon".

She decided to leave, but before exiting the destroyed backyard she turned around once more.

"Don't forget this, I love all of you and I miss you guys' everyday, especially you Marlene".

"Tifa, do what you have to do and give us a call when it's over, or if you need any help okay?" Barret said, feeling quite uneasy and guilty of what just happened.

"And watch your back, if that monster hurts you… I'll make sure he'll be put to rest once more".

Tifa gave a weak smile. "I'll see you all later" and with those words she took off to the hotel.

* * *

_**Authors note**__: The next chapter will be rated M, so this is already a warning in advance. Please skip chapter 12 if you're not 16 years of age or older. _

_There'll be more flirting, more SephxTifa and romance… _


	12. Giving In

_!Warning!: There definitely is some M stuff in here. So I do not want you to read this chapter __unless you're 16 of age or older!_

_It's not as if you're going to miss something really important if you skip this chapter, you can still follow the main storyline when skipping this part. _

* * *

**Chapter 12. Giving In. **

"Hello Madam, can I help you?" the receptionist asked. "Maybe" Tifa answered. "A friend of mine has rent a room for the night and I was wondering on which floor".

The lady took her note block "What's his last name?"

"Urh… I think it's …. Wait a sec… I have no clue" Tifa shamefully admitted.

"Don't worry, not many people have rented a room tonight, let's see; Beckindale, Grimson, Smallheart and… Lime-Panty." The lady said with a questioning voice.

Tifa almost choked. "It must be Lime-Panty" she blushed. "His mothers name was Lime and his fathers name was Panty you see…".

The receptionist gave Tifa a friendly smile "Fourth Floor room 401, I wish you and your friend a good night".

"yeah… thanks" Tifa answered, still feeling like an idiot.

She took the elevator upstairs. "Lime-Panty… Lime-Panty…" she chuckled. "So he does have some sense of humor after all".

The elevator came to a halt, let's see; "405, 404, 403… ah, 401". She knocked on the door. "Hey it's me Tifa… Open up please".

Sephiroth opened the door, with wearing nothing more than just a towel tied around his waist. "Hope you had a fun evening at your friends place" he smirked. "I surely had".

"I bet you did" Tifa whispered just loud enough for him to hear it. "Ah well, you know what they say; all's well that ends well" and she gave him a smile.

She dropped her stuff on the table and headed straight to the bathroom. "I'm going to take a quick shower before going to bed".

The clock hit midnight and Tifa decided it would be a waste of time to get fully dressed, after all she'd planned to go to bed soon.

"Darn it, left my stuff in the living room". She decided to pull a Sephiroth and to wrap herself in a towel.

She sneaked out of the bathroom and saw Sephiroth was busy looting the fridge. As she sneaked up to her bag and tried to pick it up; she came to the conclusion that her towel wasn't long enough to fully cover her body while she bucked.

Dilemma…

Luckily Sephiroth hadn't noticed her yet, so there were some options left to choose from.

One; she could start a quarrel and tell him to leave the room so she could safely pick up the bag. But she was tired and had enough quarrels for the day.

Two; she could ask him to pick up the bag for her. But she could already her him saying. "I'm not your dog".

Only one option left: She could buck for a few seconds and take the small risk of him catching a glimpse of her behind while bucking.

"The third option it will be" she silently bend down through her knees and picked up the bag.

"Nice view" A mischievous voice came from behind her.

Tifa appalled and dropped the towel to the floor.

There she was… standing naked in front of her –former- worst enemy.

Sephiroth didn't even take the effort to hand her the towel, to turn around, to look the other way or to shut his eyelids.

Quickly she picked up the towel and her bag, unrolled the towel in front of her so her whole body –well, the most important parts- were covered by it. She hid herself behind the couch, took a purple panty and a matching top out of her bag to dress herself and kept an eye on Sephiroth.

"Don't you dare to move! I'm not done with you yet!" she cried out in anger.

She walked towards him and slapped him in the face with her palm. "How dare you to look at me while I'm standing in front of you… naked!"

"Don't make such an issue about it Lockheart, I've seen many women like you" he replied casually. Tifas face hardened in anger. "And besides, it's not as if there's anything to be ashamed for" Tifa blushed; his words seemed to soothe her.

Being only inches away from his face, she noticed a little wound on the cheek she slapped him. She automatically looked at her hand, she must've scratched him with her rang.

"I'm so sorry" while softly touching the bloody scratch with her face. "What?" He replied while grasping her hand.

Tifa looked into his polished emerald eyes and seemed to loose herself once more. "I… I… scratched you."

"No big deal" he said while pulling her closer to him. "If it forms a scar, I can add it to my collection."

Tifa placed her free hand on his chest and her index finger traced some scars. "I love scars… they're like trophies, they represent victory."

"I've got a few myself…" She whispered teasingly into his ear. "Wanna see them?"

He noticed the awareness she had in her eyes, she wanted him.

"Forwarned, forearmed Lockheart" He sounded threatening, yet excited.

He wrapped his arms around her body, slowly caressing her back with his rough hands.

Moving his hands from her lower back up to her neck made her arch her whole body, she groaned in pleasure.

He wanted her.

As he lifted her up, she placed her legs around his waist to get a better grip while caressing his neck, temple and ears with her mouth.

Sephiroth placed her on the bed, opened her legs and sat in between. As an answer she pulled him closer to her, lifting herself up to sit on his lap, and started teasing him with her lips.

"So… where did you say those scars are located?" He purred, while taking off her top and stroking her gorgeous body from her neck downwards.

Her eyes slowly closed as Sephiroth´s hand slid between her breasts.

"Tell me Lockheart, what is it that you desire?"

"Sephiroth.." she panted. "Don't stop".

"Then tell me…"

"I want _you_, Sephiroth" She placed her lips on his and gave him a passionate kiss… one that seemed to go on forever.

* * *

_AN: And she ain't the onely one that can go on forever, I could go on forever with this scene. But I'll keep the sexual content within certain limits, seeing as this isn't an adult only site. _

I've been working on the last chapter (no we're not to the ending yet, but I couldn't resist working on it), and I've got a dilemma myself.

What do you guys want? A happy ending... or a sad, melodramatic one?


	13. Marlene

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they all belong to Squarsoft FFVII. The storyline is mine though._ )

_If you skipped the last chapter because it was rated M, rest assured, this one's more of a T. _

_Enjoy!_

**

* * *

**

**Chapter**** 13. Marlene…**

The early morning sunshine peeked through the window.

Tifa slowly opened her eyes and enjoyed the singing of blackbirds, which were building a nest in the old oak three next to the hotel.

It took a while before she remembered the night before; when she did she turned herself around to see if Sephiroth was still there.

He was fast asleep.

She had never seen him so peaceful before.

She rolled herself closer to him, and snuggled up against his muscular body. As she rested her arm his chest, she could feel him wake up.

To her surprise he didn't seem to be startled by her presence as she could feel how he placed his arm around her shoulder to give her some support.

She let out a soft moan, while he caressed her head with his fingers.

After they lay silently awake for a few minutes, Tifa whispered "Morning…had a good night?"

"Rough, just the way I like it" He said while pulling her on top of him. "How 'bout you?".

"Devine" she chuckled, while resting her whole body on his.

-------------

"Better than Spiky?"

She almost choked in her own saliva while he said that.

"Hey you! Me and him have never been a couple you know". She said defensively while pushing Sephiroth against the mattress.

"Seriously, you mean he hasn't even tried? What an idiot." he said mischievously while sitting up straight and kissing Tifa on her forehead.

"We're behind on schedule; Cosmo Canyon is not too far from here so I want to arrive there today". He sounded as his good old general-like self again. "I've rented a car for the day, that should help us to save time."

He lifted her up and placed her next to him on the bed. "I'm going to get dressed."

-----------

An hour later they checked out of the hotel and this time it was Tifa that stood outside waiting.

"Was about time you showed up" she teased.

"Then don't occupy the bathroom that long while there are others waiting to use it _miss Lockheart_" He sneered while he walked passed her.

"You could've joined me" she flirted.

She saw some amusement in his face while she said that.

When he noticed she was eyeing him, he replaced it by a firm look.

"Come on, It's time for business".

They headed for the car rental service where Sephiroth had reserved a car for today.

"May… " She wanted to ask something but Sephiroth cut her off. "No" he said while ignoring her gaze. "I'm driving".

She looked at him as if she felt insulted and made some unfriendly gestures behind his back.

"Wait here" he commanded as he walked inside.

------------

Tifa tried to amuse herself with singing love songs; it'd been a long time since she felt this good.

"Someone's in a good mood" A girly voice spoke behind her. "Marlene! Hey, what're you up to?" Tifa answered with asmile.

"I live here remember" she said while giving Tifa a wink. "No seriousely, I saw Sephiroth going in so I decided I might as well keep you company 'till he's back, they got real slow service here ya know."

"So Tifa… What's up with the love songs?" Marlene said teasingly.

"Nothing you nosy stripling" she replied.

"So sweet… Tifa's in denial" Marlene spoke out loud to herself to annoy Tifa even more.

"Admit it Tif, you've always had a weakness for Baddies".

"Marlene, that's it, stop it, just keep quiet, you're talking bull!" Tifa laughed.

"What's so amusing?" a familiar voice said.

Both girls looked to their right and saw Sephiroth hanging out of the window of an old black truck.

"What's that?" Tifa said in disgust.

"This, Tifa. Is a truck. It brings you from A to B in no time." He replied.

Marlene chuckled.

"You know what I mean Sephiroth… I was just hoping for a flashier vehicle." She said in annoyance.

Sephiroth stared at Marlene. "Who's the brat?"

"I'm not a brat, I'm Marlene, I saw you fighting my dad last night".

Sephiroth looked contemplative.

"Barret's daughter… Well, not his biological daughter." She continued.

"I see" Sephiroth answered, eyeing the young teen.

"So, You're Tifa's new toy" .

"MARLENE!" Tifa raged. "Where'd you get that'.

"You do like him, admit it". Marlene snapped back.

Tifa blushed.

Marlene acted innocent.

Sephiroth secretly enjoyed the show.

"It was nice talking to you _Marlene_ - Tifa glared evilly at her -but we're in a hurry".

She quickly got into the car and beckoned Sephiroth to drive.

-------------

"So, what did she tell you?" Sephiroth asked Marlene.

"not much" the girl answered. "Well, verbally I mean".

"But I know her long enough now, and her body language tells me she's mad about you". "She has always had a thing for fighters. Especially the masculine type like you."

"Marlene that's enough about me and my _personal_ life" Tifa growled.

"Oh come on Tifa, it's not as if I'm revealing anything big about your relationships issues with those dorks".

"What issues?" Sephiroth interrupted the quarreling.

"Eeh… I don't think I'm aloud to say that, she'll probably try to murder me for saying" Marlene glanced at Tifa.

Tifa hid herself underneath the dashboard, acting as if she weren't there.

Sephiroth fumbled in his pocket and took out a $10 bill, he handed it over to Marlene.

"If that's the case…" Marlene spoke while accepting the bill.

"I interrupted her and one of those dorks while he was trying to get into her pants, I'd never seen her so fierce and vicious before… I even felt sorry for the guy, I bet he couldn't use his thingy for months".

"Thanks for the info" Sephiroth said to her. "We're better keep going"

"MARLENE, YOU BLABBER!" Tifa yelled out of the window while they took off. "Just wait 'till I get back here"…

"Hmm, cute kid" Sephiroth sneered.

* * *

_AN: Aren't young teens cute?_

_Thanks for the reviews! _

_I can almost ensure you guys that I'll go for an happy ending ;) _


	14. Cosmo Canyon

**Chapter 14. ****Cosmo Canyon. **

"Finally" Sephiroth mutteredt to himself while driving out into the middle of nowhere. "Finally some rest, no more crowded places".

Tifa was staring out of the window, trying to hide herself from the big bad world. Her father used to say that when she was little. She would stare out of her bedroom window for hours, ignoring everything and everyone around her.

"Still mad?" he asked.

She glared at him. "What do you think? You actually bribed Marlene to spill out everything about my past. I feel embarrassed".

"You shouldn't feel embarrassed because you didn't let those guys get in your pants. You've got the right to say no, or to defend yourself when one tries to do something you don't agree with"

"What the…" she thought. For the first time she actually had the idea he understood her.

"But for now Lockheart, keep business and pleasure separated" he said firmly.

She nodded in agreement. "How long 'till Cosmo Canyon?".

"An hour or two" He replied.

While staring out of the window Tifa drifted into a light sleep.

"Separating business and pleasure is damn hard" Sephiroth thought while looking at her sleep.

* * *

The sweet smell of the Cosmo Canyon air entered her nostrils and woke her up. "Cosmo Canyon" She said with a satisfied smile.

"Hmm… Sephiroth, why did this trip go so easily… I mean, Belthazor knows we're coming… though he didn't send his troops".

"Because he's an idiot." Sephiroth replied stiff. "Shiva told me he's a cocky bastard, he send all of his troops to return the Golden material. It's more important to him than his own life".

"Besides, they've got a handicap. We can travel day and night; most of his soldiers are undead and can only travel by night".

He parked the car at the entrance of Cosmo Canyon; they'd be able to enter the canyon by foot.

"Uhm Seph" – he gave her a look – "Sephiroth" she quickly added.

"Do you really think they're going to let us enter Cosmo Canyon? Last time me and Cloud were here we already had a hard time entering… And it's not as if you've got a reputation as a hero" She hesitated to say those last words.

He grinned. "I'll give you a chance to explain the whole situation to them. If they don't bite we'll do it my way."

"Your way?" She questioned filled with suspicion.

"The hard way Lockheart. We're so close now. Nothing's going to stop me from reaching my goal, even if I have to kill for that".

She pushed him to a halt. "There's no killing while I'm around Sephiroth" she yelled at him.

"I might not kill you or your friends, but that doesn't mean that counts for just everyone Lockheart, now keep going" he pushed her forward.

They made her way up to the top when they were questioned by a gatekeeper. "Hold it right there, we're not letting anyone in without permission from the towns head" the guard spoke.

"Then bring us Bugenhagen and Nanaki right now" Tifa spoke in a casual yet demanding way. "Tell them Tifa Lockheart is here to see them".

* * *

"Tifa…" Red sounded worried. "What do we own this pleasure to?".

"Nanaki not so fast'! A cripple old man yelled while waving at them with his walking stick. Tifa remembered him as Bugenhagen. Nanaki's grandpa.

"Urgh… guys, I want to keep this private. Could you please tell the gatekeepers to leave for a few minutes?" She asked.

Red and Bugenhagen exchanged a look, and ordered their men to leave.

"Thank you for your trust" Tifa said while bowing for them as a gesture of her good intentions. "But I've got to admit… I'll need a lot more of your trust." She swallowed.

At that moment Sephiroth took a step around the corner and stood behind Tifa.

"Please… Please… keep calm. I beg you. We've been through so much these past few days. We need Cosmo Canyon's hospitality" she said with watery eyes.

Tifa lost her cool, after all these hard days she seemed to have a nervous breakdown.

Red stared at Sephiroth with bare teeth and his fur standing up straight.

Bugenheim didn't really seem to know who Sephiroth was, and asked "Now now young thing, no need to cry. Why don't you introduce us to this young man?" He pointed at Sephiroth.

"Grandpa!" Red raged. "That is Sephiroth" He growled.

"The one I've told you about, the one we've battled, the one that wanted to destroy the earth".

"Yeah that would be me" Sephiroth said in a bored voice. " Two minutes Tifa, after that it's my turn." She shot him daggers.

"Why would Miss Lockheart bring a murderer to Cosmo Canyon" Bugenhagen questioned out loud.

"There's a demon hidden in the dungeons that lie underneath Cosmo Canyon. He's trying to lay his hands on the Golden materia with which he can bend time and space. We are here to stop him." Tifa blabbed.

"Why not Cloud and you… why him?" Red asked while piercing Sephiroth's eyes with suspicion.

Tifa sighed. "Long story Red… but trust me… I wouldn't do anything that could harm Cosmo Canyon or your people."

"I trust you Tifa, but I don't trust him" he replied.

A deadly silence fell...

"But I'll give him the benefits of the doubt."

Bugenhagen nodded in agreement. "Where'd you say that dungeon is located?"

"Underneath the city sir." Tifa smiled. "Sephiroth knows where to find the entrance, it's hidden somewhere to the East of this town."

"Then don't waste anymore time." Sephiroth said, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Not much of a talker are we?" Bugenhagen joked.

"Don't make me do things Miss Lockheart would regret old man" He warned.

* * *

Tifa and Sephiroth followed Red into Cosmo Canyon.

"We'll find our way from here on dog." Sephiroth hissed to Red.

Red decided it would be better not to interrupt Sephiroth's plans and backed off. "I'm keeping an eye on you two" he said before retreating.

"We're going down into the valley Lockheart, keep up with me." Sephiroth said while jumping down the ledges and vanishing into the darkness.

"Urh, I don't like sticky, damping, depths" Tifa complained before following him down.


	15. The Descent

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. I've lend them from mythological tales and of course from Squaresofts wonderful Final Fantasy series._

**Chapter 15. The Descent. **

Everything around her turned dark, she couldn't see a thing.

"Sephiroth… are you here?" her voice trembled in fear.

Every time she took a step downward she had a hard time keeping her balance. Little pieces of rock were tumbling down underneath her feet.

She hugged herself tightly to the cave's wall, hoping she'd be down soon. As she took another step she could feel her left foot losing grip. "If only this rock..."- she muttered to herself while kicking some rocks aside- "would fall… then I would have some space to place my foot in".

The rock didn't give in and Tifa kicked some harder. Before she knew it, she could hear the rock fall and she lost even more grip herself. She fell.

"OMS1, this cave is about to collapse." She screamed while clamping both of her hands to the ledge she fell off.

"If you keep screaming like that it just might". Sephiroth's voice sounded from below.

"Let go of the ledge Tifa, I got you" he added casually.

Tifa closed her eyes before she took away her left hand followed by her right. She made a short fall and could feel some strong hands on her hips when she got caught.

Sephiroth put her right next to him on the ledge, Tifa looked up to the place they entered the cave and noticed they'd already descended at least a hundred meters. "We're almost there" Sephiroth said when he saw her staring down.

"How do you know? its pitch black here" she questioned, while holding onto his sleeve.

"I can smell blood, misery and despair" he answered while returning to his descent, closely followed by Tifa who fastened herself to his sleeve.

After a few more meters she could finally feel the ground underneath her feet and let go of Sephiroth his sleeve.

She turned herself around to see where they ended up.

They were in a mossy green chamber, it reminded Tifa mostly of a lair, though she'd rather not want to know what was living here.

In the centre of the room was a puddle of clear blue water, the pureness, and the freshness really didn't seem to fit in with the atmosphere that was distinctive for the rest of the lair.

Tifa made her way to the shiny pool but before she could touch it Sephiroth already took her wrist. "The pool seems to be filled with Mako energie, it would be better not to touch it we don't know what happens if we do."

Tifa withdrew her hand and decided to leave it there for now… it was hard not to satisfy her curiosity.

"Wait here while I'm checking out the different paths" Sephiroth told her with a strict face. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone". He seemed serious this time.

As Tifa saw him disappearing in one of the dark tunnels she stared into the shiny pool. "It's so beautiful… so pure... what would it feel like? Soft…?" Before she knew it, her curiosity took the lead and her fingers were stirring through the pool, it felt silky.

Her body was regaining energy, she felt great, renewed and healthy. She decided to take some of it with her. "Who knows, it might come in handy."

After exploring the tunnels Sephiroth returned to where she was, eyeing her suspiciously, How come she looked so refreshed? He decided to question her out, they had better things to do.

"What've you been doing?" Tifa wondered. "I've done some cleaning" he answered with a smirk.

"All the tunnels lead to chambers like this one, except the third, that one leads to a door."

She silently followed him, fingering the place on her hands she'd touched the mako pool with. The pool had left a strange sparkle behind.

As she entered one of the dark tunnels she could feel something spongy underneath her feet. When she looked down to see what it was she saw the ground covered by pale dead bodies. "Urh.." She snorted in disgrace. "That's just plain gross".

"Be glad I already did the hard work for you, didn't want you to get dirt on your pretty hands" he said tauntingly. "Excuse me mister, in case you haven't noticed; I was born to be a fighter, I don't care about getting dirty, I like to _play_ dirty games." She whispered.

"Don't get me started Lockheart, don't get me started." He said while opening the old wooden door in front of them.

"My… you're handsome" A bat like woman flew over to Sephiroth and tried to stroke his face with her sharp nailed fingers. Sephiroth clutched her wrist before she was able to touch him. "Don't you dare succubus; I'm not here to play your little games." He said with piercing eyes.

Tifa was doing her best to remain calm. How dared the creature to flirt with her _partner._ If looks could kill, this one would definitely be fatal.

As the succubus flew up into the sky Tifa got distracted by her strange appearance.

The woman was beautiful to see, big black bat-like wings, a long scorpion tail and a scantily-clad look.

"I've been expecting you two" Her voice was high pitched and sounded kind of howling to Tifa. "My Lord has instructed me not to let anyone through this door, especially none of you" She chuckled.

"We'll see about that" Sephiroth said, while making a taunting "Hmmpf" sound.

She sneered. "Whether you defeat me or not doesn't matter, by the time the two of you are passed me, the Golden materia will be ours. Our troops arrived at Midgar this night, and believe me… Midgar is a battlefield right as we speak."

Sephiroth's eyes became bigger and anger could be seen.

"What? Shiva didn't trust the peons? She didn't tell?" The succubus laughed out loud.

"My sweet sis, she cares so much for miserable worms like you, doesn't want to saddle you up with even more burdens." She spoke trying to imitate Shiva's voice.

"At least Shiva shows some affection and compassion, she cares of humanity, she's doing her job right and.." The succubus evil cackle interrupted Tifa.

"Urrrh, I've had it with you!" Tifa yelled. Sephiroth go on, there's just no time to lose. I don't want Midgar to suffer any longer, we've got to put an end to this even if it'll cost me my life." She raged.

"I'll try to hold this broad back while you're searching for Belthazor".

* * *

_AN: Nothing really interesting this time, sorry, next two chapters are better that's why I'm posting the last three all at once. Yippee!_


	16. The Last Stand

**Chapter 16. The Last Stand. **

"Sephiroth go on, I'll hold the succubus back" He had never heard Tifa so determined before. "I won't be able to help you after I go through that doorTifa, take care of yourself and whatever you, don't give up."

He gave Tifa one last kiss on her forehead and continued the path.

"Touching… It makes me sick" the succubus screeched.

The succubus flew up into the air and aimed for Tifa with her scorpion like tail. While she came down Tifa had a hard time dodging the attack.

The succubus' high pitched laughter filled the room.

* * *

Sephiroth made his way to the throne room, where Belthazor would be awaiting his arrival.

The big wooden door slowly opened.

"I never expected you to get this far Sephiroth" he spoke while thoroughly inspecting him. "I see you're alone, where's the lady?"

"Teaching your succubus the basics of martial arts" he said with a devilish laugh.

"Oh Beltazor, I wouldn't want to be you right now… You'll be begging for your death before I'm halfway through with you" Sephiroth added, still showing no signs of fear.

"But enough of this chit-chat, let's get over with it".

While Sephiroth faced Belthazor, Tifa had her hands full with the succubus.

* * *

The fight seemed to be in favor of the succubus, she had been fireing air attacks at Tifa.

She knew the wings had to be the succubus weak spot, so she'd aimed for them and wrecked them with her meteodrive.

From there on, the tides had turned; Tifa was on the winning hand.

"Do you really think a girl from the slums can defeat the queen of the night?" the succubus raged in anger.

She straightened her tail and lashed it at Tifa once more. But this time Tifa was prepared. As she waited for the tail to batter her against the wall, she caught it with both hands and tore of the sting before she got smacked aside.

Tifa used her last powers to get up, and prepared herself for what had to be her final blow. She knew the Succubus was powerless without the ability to fly and her deadly sting.

"You're mistaking me for someone else princess, I'm not from the slums" Tifa spoke defensively. "Let's see what you can make out of this" and Tifa took a stand. "Meteor Strike!" she yelled while focusing all of her energy on the succubus.

She grabbed the succubus by the back of her green snake-like hair and ran up against the wall to gain height.

As she back flipped off the wall into the dept, she went full speed and slammed the succubus brutally to the ground.

Tifa herself floated angelical through the air and landed steadily on both feet. She inspected the room and saw the succubus gasping for breath a few meters away from where she was standing.

Not much of hero now, are we? Tifa taunted.

"Oh… and by the way, I'm from Nibelheim you bitch". She said before delivering her the final blow.

The Succubus' let out one last cry before vanishing into the earth.

Tifa slowly edged to the door Sephiroth entered. She searched for a handle but there seemed to be none. As a last resort she tried to push the door open, though it didn't surprise her when the door didn't budge.

She knew she couldn't do a thing… she just hoped Sephiroth would come out of that door soon.

* * *

It soon became clear that both of the men were willing to push themselves to the extreme, just to win this battle.

It had nothing to do with the intentions one had with earth, it was all about strength and power.

Sephiroth might've been physically stronger, when it came to spell casting and summoning magic, Belthazor was the absolute champion.

"Enough fooling around" Sephiroth taunted the demon. "I've been testing you all along to see what you're capable of and I must say; I'm even less than impressed"

Belthazor fired an ice spell in rage, which stunned Sephiroth for a few seconds, but he recovered too fast for Belthazor to attack him once more.

Belthazor seemed to have no idea who he was up to.

After Sephiroth teleported himself behind Belthazor to slash him by surprise, he'd immediately launched his flame pillar attack.

"Don't say I didn't warn you" He said carelessly to Belthazor. "You might be something where you came from, but here you're nothing more than a wretched little pest".

He teleported into the outer corner of the room and whispered the words "Sin Harvest".

A rainbow like glow covered his whole body. Belthazor noticed the same rainbow colored light circling above his head.

"What the…" he murmered while looking in awe at Sephiroth, wondering what would come next.

Sephiroth stood peaceful in the corner and whatever he was doing; it looked as meditating to Belthazor.

The circle above Belthazor's head grew out to an orb consuming his whole body.

Belthazor looked desperate; he fired several spells and tried to free himself from Sephiroth his grip. But nothing could free him anymore.

The orb turned black, colored rays of light spun started spinning around it… 'till the explosion came.

During the explosion the room was lid by a fierce white light and Sephiroth could feel the battle advancing its ending.

As the light drew away, Sephiroth gained view of Belthazor's shade, clutching itself to the ground. With the last of his powers Belthazor tried to straighten himself, but he failed.

Sephiroth walked over to him.

"So… this is it then" Belthazor spoke while blood came clutching out of his mouth. "I will not grant you the pleasure of sending me back to the afterlife" he hissed.

A wave of heat encircled Belthazor's body, his temperature's rising.

"If I go down, I'll take you with me"… "NO one, absolutely no one defeats the Demon of Darkness". "See you soon Sephiroth". He spoke while leveling his energy.

"Shit, he's going to self destruct" Sephiroth said irritated. "I might as well get the fuck out of here.".

He ran to place where he had entered the room before and banged on the door trying to open it.

* * *

The banging sound startled Tifa, who was resting to recover from her own fight.

"Sephiroth… Is that you?" She got up to her feet at once, and hurried herself over to the massive wooden door.

"Tifa" His voice sounded from the other side. "Get out of here, the whole place is about to explode."

"Wait? What… NO! What about you?" She panicked while bashing on the door with her fists. "The door won't budge'.

"Get out now Tifa! Don't worry about me" He said casually, trying to remain cool.

"I don't think so, I'm not going to leave without you" she firmly replied to him.

"Why are you so stubborn?" his voice raged. "Because I won't live my life without you! Sephiroth, I need you, I want you… I might even love you!" She yelled in despair, her eyes turning watery.

For the first time ever, she actually got Sephiroth stunned.

"I'm not leaving you here" she hit the door once more, but this time she used her full body weight. "Shit, that battle took most of my strength." She said to herself.

When her body came in impact with the door she heard some tinkling.

Her hand slit into her pocket and she took out the bottle with clear blue liquid, the one she filled in one of the lairs. "Of course" she mumbled while opening the bottle and emptying it in one draught.

She felt new energy storing in her body and prepared herself to attack the door once more. This time it did budge, a little crack could be seen.

Sephiroth – confused by what he just heard from Tifa - concentrated all of his energy on the door and slashed it with his Masamune.

After some more attacks from both sides, the door gave in and the burst was big enough for Sephiroth to make his way through.

He gripped Tifa by her arm and ran towards the old door to exit this place.

A loud bang could was heard, fire was encircling them both as her hand slid out of his.

* * *

_AN: I know, I suck when it comes to writing fighting scene's, but luckily the main aim of this fic was the relationship between Seph & Tifa, which worked out pretty well if I may say so myself. _

_Last Chapter's coming up… _


	17. Shiva's Blessing

_AN: this chapter is rated…. M._

_I've put some 17+ stuff in it on the ending but I've marked this area so you can skip that part if you're not old enough for it. ;) _

* * *

_**Chapter 17. Shiva's Blessing. **_

Her eyes slowly opened and she stared into Red's furry face. "Red!" she squeaked while hugging him tightly.

"What… what happened" she sounded confused, examining the room to see who else was there. "Where is he?" her voice showed signs of panic.

"Tifa…" Red whispered. "We heard an explosion, when we went to check we descended into a dark tunnel and found you…" Tifa stared at Red as if she were expecting him to continue. "Only you..." he added.

Before Red could say anything else Tifa burst into tears and seemed to lost control of herself. "No! Go back, check again! He was there; he was holding my hand the whole time! He has to be there!"

"Please Tifa calm down. We've thoroughly searched the whole cave…for what was left of it, his body wasn't there".

"No of course his body wasn't there! That's because he's not dead! I'll find him for myself" She raged.

She sat up straight, and could feel life flowing out of her veins. _"Please… please get up Tifa, you really need to sit up straight and find him."_ She tried to encourage her body.

Red's concern didn't keep her from standing up. She was already trying to make her way downstairs when she collapsed onto the ground.

* * *

"Tifa….Tifa…" Red's soft voice echoed through her head when she opened her eyes. "Ah, you're back again… Now don't be so stubborn anymore and relax, you've got an important visitor."

A sparkle could be seen in Tifa's eyes. She closed her eyes and whispered "Sephiroth" to herself.

"Miss Lockheart" a feminine voice sounded.

Tifa turned her head to see who it was. "Shiva… please, please, where is he…"

"In every battle there are losses, there's not much we can do right now. I've helped him once before seeing as I'm fond of second chances. Though I must say I'm not here to discuss what happened to him, I'm here to pronounce that you and Sephiroth have fulfilled your task. "

As Shiva spoke those words, Tifa already knew what was coming.

"You can go back to your old life, and take it on where you left off."

"But I don't want that!" Tifa yelled – her abdomen filled with pain. "My life sucked, my life was like a hell! This task made things better. At least I wasn't alone any longer. I've grown fond of Sephiroth; I've grown fond of having him around…"

Tifa's words had struck Shiva's nerves.

"You'll get over it, out of sight out of mind." Shiva sighed, sounding somewhat compassionate.

Tifa let out a cackle. "Oh boy and I was actually defending _you_ when your sister was making fun of you… I'm such an idiot" she laughed. "I knew you guardians are all the same, I never wanted to believe it. Cloud told me a million times… but it couldn't get through this thick skull of mine."

"You only care for yourself, it doesn't bother you what happens to your _peons_, we are nothing more than numbers to you. You ain't better than that Sis of yours".

Shiva was left speechless and turned around to leave.

"Yeah, just leave; just walk away from the_ truth_" Tifa howled when she saw Shiva leaving the room.

What she didn't see was the crystallized tear strolling down Shiva's cheek.

* * *

When Tifa's body came to rest she decided to pack her bags and to leave forever.

She would sell her newly bought house, buy the ugly black truck and disappear in eternity… for a while at least.

Some traveling would do her good, going absolutely nowhere, just doing nothing at all.

She sighed; Is this what Cloud felt when Aeris died?

She didn't care, this are her feelings, and the only thing that matters is that it hurts.

As her bags were packed she gave Red and Bugenhagen a warm goodbye and asked them to investigate the tunnels underneath Cosmo Canyon for any sign of Sephiroth's body.

She walked to the big black truck located at the borders of Cosmo Canyon and searched for the keys in her bag.

Thank god Sephiroth gave them to her before there little adventure in the Cosmo tunnels.

She drove for a few hours – only god knows where to- and decided to call it a day.

As she found herself a nice spot in the grass, she sat down hugging herself and enjoying the sunset.

Tears came once more.

"Sephiroth… why…" she sniffed while trying to dry her tears. "Haven't you listened to me? Didn't I say I don't want to live my life without you?"

"I'm not supposed to be here anymore…" even more tears came.

Her heartbeat seemed to be stuck in her throat; she brought her left hand up to her heart to feel the arousal. "I'm in pain...my heart is broken…"

"For the first time…" she sobbed.

* * *

The golden luminescence brought enrichment to the landscape, which amplified her emotions.

She was so lost in her own emotions she didn't hear the heavy footsteps enclosing on her.

It was the shadow that fell over her that made her notice she had company.

"I don't know who you are, or what you want, but I'm not in the mood for company, fights or quarrels. It would be for your own best just to leave." She spoke depressed, not even taking the time to look up to see who stood behind her.

"Too bad" a familiar male voice came in return. "I was hoping we could enjoy the sunset together, but I'll return on another day if that fits you better".

"That voice…" Tifa turned around and saw him.

"Sephiroth!!!" before she got up he was already down on his knees to catch her fist – which she launched at him before yelling "I thought you were gone!"

They fell in embrace and Sephiroth laid her gently onto the grass, placing her head into his armpit. With his free hand he wiped away her tears. "No need to cry Lockheart."

"These are tears of joy." she showed a smile while continuing to sob. "I meant what I said Sephiroth" she added. "Which part?" he gave her a mischievous look.

She rested her head against his chest, "Everything… But tell me, how come you're here… I spoke to Shiva and she just…. Didn't do a thing to get you back. "

"Well, I also spoke to Shiva and she obviously was touched by what you told her. The word Guilt seemed to be spelled on her forehead".

"I still don't understand… but why… you fulfilled your job here…so there was no need to bring you back." Tifa whispered.

"I started this mission with the idea just to slay that demon; I didn't care about anything else."

"But then, you got under my skin… and I experienced some whole new things."

"Shiva told me she took notice of that. Your conversation with her was enough for her to decide to give me a real second chance on earth."

"_There's still a lot you two can learn from each other_" Shiva's beautiful voice came down from heaven. "_And who am I to take away this opportunity?"_

"_Urgh, this cheesy stuff is no good for me" _a second voice added._ "Shiva could you disconnect and give those two time to set their worlds on fire, to have a big ass blast together, that's more my style". _

"_Oh Diablo, you're hopeless you know?" _a cheerful sigh could be heard._ "Take care.."_

Tifa let out a giggle after which Sephiroth placed her on top. "Let's get back to the point miss Lockheart, what did you mean when you said that you meant "everything"?

"I love you" she whispered. He could feel her warm breath on his cheek while staring at the sun which was descending into the horizon.

**AN: -Okay, if you're not 17+ don't read any further! You've had your ending right here ;).**

**Naughty stuff ahead. **

* * *

He placed his hands on her hips as she took of her black top and unbuttoned his pants.

"What do you think you're doing" he whispered into her ears while nibbling gently on her earlobe. "I'm taking Diablo's proposal for granted" she teased him while taking of her boots and skirt.

His hand gently stroke down her back making his way into her panty. She answered his call with taking of his shirt and lowering his pants.

He rolled over and switched places with her. "I want to be on top" she hissed. "Tough luck for you then" he teased while pressing her body back onto the ground with his "I'm in charge this time."

He made a trail of kisses from her breasts on downward to her little sanctuary; there he used his mouth to take of her crimson red panty.

She used her hands to play with his shiny silver strands of hair as he gave her pleasure using his tongue and mouth. Loud, yet soft moans escaped her lips as she reached her climax.

She arched her back and embraced him. Her hands slit down into his tight trunk and teased him there. He ran his fingers across her abdomen

Forcefully he pushed her back to the ground and stroked her inner thigh; she automatically began spreading her thighs wide and wider. He took off his trunk and placed himself between her long legs resting his hands beside her shoulders.

As he entered her, soft moans escaped both of their lips. The feeling of him inside her made her whole body weak, the pleasures thought of him claiming her as her own.

He continued his steady brutal rhythm; her hands pulled his head closer to hers and teased his lips with her tongue.

His stomach muscles were a lust to the eye, she could see his muscles tighten as he thrust his hips toward her. This must be heaven.

She felt his hands move away from her shoulders and take place on her hips. His rhythmic pace slowed down and his body began to shudder. The steady breathing lowered and he rested his body on hers.

When the night fell, so did they.

Sephiroth was lying on his back holding her close to his side, his hand resting on her back. She had her eyes closed and enjoyed every minute of them together this evening. She never felt this good before.

He was still awake, breathing slowly and staring upwards into the starry night. As he teased her back with his fingers, she gave him a sweet kiss on his temple.

She wasn't asleep, she was still awake.

"Tifa..?"

"Hum hum" she murmured.

"I love you too" he whispered while pulling her in an embrace.

* * *

_AN: Reviewers (& readers of course) thanks for everything; it means so much for me to know that you're reading & enjoying my story. __To react on some of you; I'm considering a sequel, something about how the Tifa&Seph relationship will work out in the real life. _

_Last disclaimer: I didn't own any of these characters. The main characters are copyrighted by Squarsoft. They aren't in any way involved with this story. I'm not_ _making any money out of it, and it's just for fun. Belthazar & the succubus are mythological creatures, I borrowed them from... the internet? Let's see.. oh yeah, some of the attacks are borrowed from Kindom of Heaven so kudo's to them too. _

_Big thanks to these reviewers: _

_TifandSephiroth4Eva__kaza85__Heroineofearth__DnCnChIcK369__WesternMistress__ & ancientgothicviolin. _


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